Obama Plans Summit On Global Refugees At UN

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers his final State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in Washington on January 12.

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Obama Plans Summit On Global Refugees At UN

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U.S. President Barack Obama plans to host world leaders for a summit on global refugees at the UN General Assembly in September.

Obama discussed the planned summit in a January 21 telephone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House said in a statement.

The goal of the planned meeting is to "secure new and concrete commitments to expand opportunities for refugees worldwide and support to frontline states," the statement said.

Obama and Merkel discussed the refugee crisis in Europe and agreed that a donors' conference to be held next month in London is an opportunity to "galvanize global efforts" to address the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Syria, the White House said.

Obama and Merkel also "underscored their firm commitment to accelerate the full implementation of the Minsk agreements" to end the war between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, the White House said.